The article below, submitted by Jim Herman
of the 538th LCC, shows a day in the life of a LCC unit. Several articles have been
posted in this section. Click on the links below the article, to find out more about the
538th.

538th Comes In

PHU TA I (538th Engineer Company
(LC))

After working out in the jungle for the
last three and a half months, the men of the 538th are in for a well deserved rest.
During that time they were attached to the 173rd ABN BDE located at LZ English.
From the first day that they arrived, the men started right in to
work clearing the land and rooting out Charlie's hiding places. A burm of dirt was
pushed up around an area and this will be their camp. At the same time the dozers
are at work clearing as much as they can away from the burm before night sets in.
One of the noted things about the 538th is that they never stay
in an area very long. They will usually move to another area once every week or two.
This tearing down the Road Camp and setting it up again is a lot of extra
work on the part of all the men but they do it without ever thinking about it.
During this last project they only moved five times plus coming back here for the stand
down.
The hours are long and hard, and the living conditions are quite
miserable at times, especially during these monsoons. Each day is started with two
hours of motor stables to get the equipment in shape for the day. Then out in the
jungle they go with their dozer's, sometimes it is almost dark before they return.
On Sunday's the whole day is spent working on the equipment making repairs if
necessary. All they have to live in are tents and during the monsoons, life can get
pretty wet and uncomfortable. Keeping personal items dry is almost an impossibility,
but the men learn to put up with these little inconveniences.
The danger was always around them but the men never let this
interfere with the work that they were doing. Booby traps were a common thing but
fortunately no one was hurt seriously. At night the enemy was spotted roaming around
outside the perimeter of the burm, but infantry security had everything under control.
After going through all of this, the men are well deserving of a
rest. But stand down is not all that much of a rest period for the men have to work
on their equipment to get it ready for the next project. They work regular hours
daily in the motor pool changing blades, oil, etc. on their equipment. But after
living out in the field for so long the men look forward to the stand down.